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American Health News and
Wellness Report Newsletter
Prevention is a Cure (c)
JUNE 2011 - Vol 12 Issue 24
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| Greetings! |
 Calendar of events
Monday, June 27th 2011 7:30 pm
Boca Raton Veterans Council
All Veterans Welcome
Boca Raton Community Center
150 Crawford Blvd., Boca Raton
561 361 9091 Free
Saturday, July 2nd. 2011 9:00 a.m.
Lets Talk About It: A Senior Discussion Group
Heritage Park West Library
5859 Via Flora, Delray Beach
561 361 9091 $1 donation
Coming soon:
A benefit Spaghetti Luncheon to Benefit Our American Soldier Campaign in Iraq and Afghanistan and our Orphans of War Campaign. Look for it soon in Delray.
Call the American Health Association for any special offering.
President American Health Association
J. Robert Gordon
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| Undoing Dupuitrens in a snap - New treatment |
New Treatment: Undoing Dupuytrens In a Snap
NEW ORLEANS, LA (American Health Newswire) -- It's a disease most people have never heard of and probably can't begin to pronounce. But three percent of the U.S. population has it, a hand deformity that can make it impossible to straighten their fingers or even their toes. It's a disease so old; it may date back all the way to the time of the vikings. Surgery used to be the only way to fix it, until now.
When Patrick Bergeron puts his hands to work, he can build almost anything, his house and even an airplane he's got back in the garage.
"I've made a living using my hands my whole life," Patrick said. But for 20 years, there were things his hands couldn't do, like picking up a jar.
"I'd have to pick it up with three fingers," Patrick said.Or reaching in to get his keys.
 "I couldn't get them in, couldn't get them in my pocket," Patrick said.
Patrick had Dupuytren's contracture, a build up of collagen that forms thick bands, pulling in the third and fourth fingers on each hand. Straightening the fingers used to mean invasive surgery and months of rehab. But doctor Eric George introduced Patrick to a new option.
On day one Dr. George injects an enzyme called xiaflex at three points to dissolve the tough band in his finger.
"That enzyme over a 25-hour period will basically erode or help to deteriorate this band,"
Eric R. George, M.D., a hand surgeon at Hand Surgical Associates, explained.
24 hours later, some local anesthetic and a little manipulating to separate the tissue and then one big pop has Patrick able to straighten her fingers for the first time in 20 years. Now, after having all his fingers straightened, Patrick's got a lot more projects on his list and a lot less to worry about. A handy guy whose hands won't be a problem anymore.
Dupuytren's contracture is more common in men than women, particularly in those of northern European descent. Not all patients suffer symptoms severe enough to require medical intervention. The new enzyme treatment is FDA approved, but it isn't pain free. The shots and the follow up fix may cause discomfort. But unlike the surgical approach, once the enzyme fixes the problem, studies have shown it doesn't come back. The enzyme procedure generally is covered by insurance.
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| Vertigo relief without drugs |
Stop Spinning -- Vertigo Relief Without Drugs
 (American Health Newswire) -- Vertigo: it's a sensation thrill-seekers will chase for fun, but imagine living with it all the time. Over 2 million Americans do, but there's a simple way to relieve the dizziness.
For avid gardener Shelby Bearden, it came from out of the blue.
"It came on like that," Bearden told American Health.
It's called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), and it can be triggered just by moving your head.
It all starts in your ears. Normally, crystals called otoliths move around in the semicircular canals in your inner ear, touching tiny hair cells, which send information about your head's position to your brain. However, when one of those crystals becomes stuck in a canal, it makes the hair cells respond to changes in position that aren't really happening. That leads to the dizziness and nausea.
Kristy Olthoff is a physical therapist certified in vestibular rehab. She uses a special set of maneuvers, called a canalith repositioning procedure, to get people with BPPV back on their feet.
"I turn her head to the right, lay back with her head extended and that caused the crystal in the right posterior canal to move into this position down here. Then, the next position moved in here, until finally it ducked into that central part. Typically, with one session, with one treatment, people have no symptoms," Olthoff told American Health.
These exercises might seem simple, but Olthoff warns: don't try this at home.
Thanks to Olthoff, Bearden is no longer feeling dizzy.
"She cured me in one session. One session after six months of my life being on hold," Bearden said.
About 20 percent of people with vertigo actually have BPPV. In about half of all cases, there is no clear cause, but when one can be pinpointed, it's usually due to a blow to the head.
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| New methods to detect Alzheimer's |
New Methods to Detect Alzheimer's
(American Health Newswire) -- A new European research project known as PredictAD, has been created to develop successful methods for enabling earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The diagnosis requires a holistic view of the patient combining information from several sources, such as clinical tests, imaging and blood samples.
"Current diagnostic guidelines emphasize the importance of various biomarkers in diagnostics. We have developed novel approaches to extract biomarkers from imaging data, electrophysiological data and blood samples, and a unique and clinically useful software tool for integrating all these heterogeneous measurements," Dr. Jyrki Lötjönen of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and scientific coordinator of the project, was quoted saying.
There are several methods for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's that the European scientists have created. Firstly however, atrophy, which means to have a tissue decrease or waste away, in the mediotemporal lobe is a well-known hallmark of Alzheimer's, and magnetic resonance imaging is an excellent tool for measuring this tissue loss.
Currently, in clinical practices brain images are looked at mostly only by visual inspection and there is a great need for objective measurements.
That's PredictAD's first method, "We have managed to develop efficient tools for measuring the size of the hippocampus, the atrophy rate of the hippocampus, and two modern approaches based on comparing patient data with previously diagnosed cases available in large databases," Daniel Rueckert of Imperial College in London and leader of the imaging biomarkers work-package, was quoted saying.
An innovative tracer developed recently especially for diagnostics of Alzheimer's disease provides promise for very early diagnosis of the disease. Alzheimer's disease is known to affect the electromagnetic activity of the brain. The scientists have studied the performance of another piece of technology; transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) combined with electroencephalographic (EEG) measures in detecting the disease. The strength of TMS/EEG is that it allows direct and non-invasive perturbation of the human cerebral cortex without requiring the subject's collaboration. The study has shown significant changes in Alzheimer's patients compared with healthy aging people.
Molecular level biomarkers are also currently under extensive studies in Alzheimer's research. Many biomarkers are measured from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), the liquid surrounding the cerebral cortex, have been found to be strongly related with the disease. One major challenge of these biomarkers is that taking samples from CSF is an invasive measurement limiting their usability in early diagnostics. Blood samples would be an excellent source for detecting Alzheimer's disease. PredictAD has studied the role of metabolomic and protein compounds in Alzheimer's disease from blood samples. The preliminary results reveal several promising compounds.
The PredictAD project continues to take important steps towards an early approach to Alzheimer's disease prediction and management.
SOURCE: PredictAD's workshop in Kuopio, Finland, June 16, 2011.
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100% of every dollar goes to service the charities programs and services here in Palm Beach County and around the globe Not one cent in 8 years has ever gone to salaries, of any kind, to anyone. We are, from top to bottom all volunteers in service to the community. |
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MISSION STATEMENT
The American Health Society is a distinguished 11 year old multi-award winning preventative public health & wellness 501(c)(3) charity whose mission is in preventative healthcare, mental wellness, health education, literacy and advocacy aimed at preventing lifestyle based illnesses, diseases and the frailties of aging.
We have a strong "Social Green Philosophy" of Humanitarian Service through our American Volunteer Corps which has a global outreach in 46 countries with members in 37 US States.
J. Robert Gordon - CEO and Founder American Health Association
561-361-9091 |
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